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Description:
"As the United States imports more than half of its oil and overall consumption continues to climb, the 1992 Energy Policy Act established the goal of having "alternative fuels" replace at least ten percent of petroleum fuels used in the transportation sector by 2000, and at least thirty percent by 2010. Currently, alternative fuels consumed in Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFVs) account for less than one percent of total consumption of gasoline. This paper examines how alternative fuel E85 can be used to reverse that trend. In addition, this research paper will take a look at some of the ongoing government decisions concerning the use of the alternative fuel E85, and will discuss what policy makers might hold for the future in terms of the supply and demand of alternative fuels in the United States. This case study will be useful to all stakeholders involved in the transportation industry, including, but not limited to the government, policy makers, automakers, motorists, and researchers, eager to find a just balance with both a better transportation system and a healthy and clean environment."

Description:
"This research compares density in a few select cities with the accepted transit efficiency performance measure of operating cost per passenger mile to determine whether this statistic is better in more dense cities."

Description:
"The current project explored ways to create custom roadway segments for use in the TTI driving simulator. The project initially attempted to use AutoCAD Civil 3D roadway drawings and export them for use in the simulator."

Description:
"The Master of Public Service and Administration program at Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service requires that all second year graduate students participate in a two semester Capstone course."

Description:
"In this report, we study information propagation via inter-vehicle communication along two parallel roads. By identifying an inherent Bernoulli process, we are able to derive the mean and variance of propagation distance."

Description:
"This report is a compilation of research papers written by students participating in the 2010 Undergraduate Transportation Scholars Program. The 10-week summer program, now in its 20th year, provides undergraduate students in Civil Engineering the opportunity to learn about transportation engineering through participating in sponsored transportation research projects. The program design allows students to interact directly with a Texas A&M University faculty member or Texas Transportation Institute researcher in developing a research proposal, conducting valid research, and documenting the research results through oral presentations and research papers. The papers in this compendium report on the following topics, respectively: 1) estimating carriers/truckers value of time due to congestion; 2) evaluating retroreflectivity measurement techniques for profiled and rumble stripe pavement markings; 3) analyzing retroreflectivity and color degradation in sign sheeting; 4) evaluating the effectiveness of LED enhanced stop paddles for school crossing guard use; 5) incorporating freight value into the Urban Mobility Report; 6) evaluating ASTM Standard Test Method E2177, retroreflectivity of pavement markings in a condition of wetness; 7) calibrating pavement performance prediction models; and 8) evaluating the effects of concrete curing compounds on hydration."

Description:
"This report is a compilation of research papers written by students participating in the 2011 Undergraduate Transportation Scholars Program. The papers in this compendium report on the following topics, respectively: 1) evaluating the impact of nighttime work zone lighting characteristics n motorists; 2) late night roadway visibility; 3) investigation of the use and pricing of the I-15 express lanes in San Diego; 4) intercity passenger rail access to airports: a case study at the Milwaukee airport; 5) development of a background complexity assessment tool; 6)identifying pavement preservation treatments suitable for performance-related specifications; and 7)arsenic content and retro-reflectivity of glass beads used in pavement markings."

Description:
"This report summarized the findings from reviewing the literature on several topics that are related to heavy vehicle emissions including engine and fuel types, vehicle technologies that can be used to reduce or mitigate vehicle emission, the factors that affect vehicle emission, vehicle emissions modeling, and current and future policy requiring accurate accounting of heavy vehicle emission."

Description:
"The report describes a comprehensive vehicle fleet composition, utilization, and evolution simulator that can be used to forecast household vehicle ownership and mileage by type of vehicle over time. The components of the simulator are developed in this research effort using detailed revealed and stated preference data on household vehicle fleet composition, utilization, and planned transactions collected for a large sample of households in California. Results of the model development effort show that the simulator holds promise as a tool for simulating vehicular choice processes in the context of activity-based travel microsimulation model systems."

Description:
"Fatigue cracking is a significant form of pavement distress in flexible pavements. The properties of the sand-asphalt mortars or fine aggregate matrix (FAM) can be used to characterize the evolution of fatigue crack growth and self-healing in asphalt mixtures. This study compares the internal microstructure of the mortar within a full asphalt mixture to the internal microstructure of the FAM specimen. This study also conducts a limited evaluation of the influence of mixture properties and methods of compaction on the engineering properties of the FAM specimens. The results from this study, although limited in number, indicate that in most cases the SGC compacted FAM specimen had a microstructure that most closely resembled the microstructure of the mortar within a full asphalt mixture. Another finding from this study was that, at a given level of damage, the healing characteristic of the three different types of FAM mixes was not significantly different. This indicates that the healing rate is mostly dictated by the type of binder and not significantly influenced by the gradation or binder content, as long as the volumetric distribution of the mastic was the same. In other words, the inherent healing characteristics of the asphalt binder play a more significant role relative to other properties (e.g. volumetrics) in the overall fatigue cracking resistance of the asphalt mixture."

Description:
"This report is primarily focused on the development of mathematical models that can be used to support decisions regarding a charging station location and installation problem. The major parts of developing the models included identification of the problem, development of mathematical models in the form of bi-level and stochastic programming problems, and development of a solution approach using a meta-heuristic method."

Description:
"Right-turn lanes provide space for the deceleration and storage of right-turn vehicle, and separate turning vehicles from through movements. Dual right-turn lanes are increasingly used at urban intersections primarily for two reason: (1) to accommodate high right-turn demands and avoid turn-pocket overflows, and/or (2) to prevent right-turn vehicles that exit from a nearby upstream freeway off-ramp (on the left of the roadway) from abruptly changing too many lanes toward the right-turn lane at intersection."

Description:
"This paper shows the economic efficiency of allowing longer combination vehicles in Texas. First, an overview of the truck size and weight policies is explained, with an emphasis on those that affect Texas. Next, LCV operations in other countries are described. Then, an LCV scenario for Texas is chosen, with specific routes and vehicle types. Operational costs for these vehicles are calculated on a cost per mile and cost per ton (or cubic yard) mile. The LCV scenario and the current truck base case are analyzed to find the number of truck trips, the number of mile, and the cost per mile for the chosen routes. These are then compared to estimate the change if LCVs were allowed in Texas."

Description:
"This report used 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Texas data to consider the equity impacts surrounding four vehicle miles traveled (VMT) scenarios. Results indicate that all of the VMT fee scenarios are essentially as equally vertically equitable as the current state gas tax system."

Description:
"This research is intended to evaluate mobile source GHG emissions for traffic management strategies, in which a Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS) is used to collect the vehicle's real-world emission and activity data, and Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) based modeling approach is used as the basis for emission estimation."

Description:
"Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) refers to dense, pedestrian-friendly, livable communities that have good transit as a nucleus. While transit facilities are missing in most suburban towns and the residents are heavily dependent on their vehicles, it is wondered whether residents would take advantage if public facilities were available. This paper presents information about some vital aspects of TOD when viewed in suburban communities."

Description:
"The current study contributes toward understanding the influence of congestion pricing on commuter behavior by specifically examining what dimensions of commute travel behavior are affected as a response to congestion pricing."

Description:
Report that examines traveler trip lengths across transit modes, work trip duration frequency distributions and mode share distributions in 7 major cities, 8 Combined Statistical Areas and one Metropolitan Statisical Area and found the effects of increasing population and transit mdoe gvariety on work trip travel time and travel distance.

Description:
"The report examines sustainable supply chains in North America and the role played by rail inter-modal operations in lowering ten-mile fuel and emission costs. It examines whether current systems favor imports over exports - a current complaint from some shippers - and whether the development of inland inter-modal ports offers a solution to moving future freight into and out of large metropolitan areas."

Description:
"The main objective of this study was to evaluate the inherent fatigue cracking resistance of asphalt binders in the form of a matrix with rigid particle inclusions. The underlying rational for this approach was to subject the binders to a state of stress that is similar to the one in a full asphalt mixture."

Description:
"The main objective of this study is to report the state-of-the-knowledge on parking regulations and practice influencing the planning, design, and implementation of TOD. The report first offers a narrative review of the published works on TOD-Parking. Based on the review findings it then presents a matrix of best parking practices for TOD."

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